_A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491._ In this chapter, (1,) _ Moses applies himself to the execution of his commission, Exodus 7:1._ (2,) _ The dispute between Moses and Pharaoh begins. Moses, in God's name, demands Israel's release, Pharaoh denies it; the contest is between the power of the great God and the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_ A god to Pharaoh_ That is, my representative in this affair, as magistrates are called gods, because they are God's vicegerents. He was authorized to speak and act in God's name, and endued with a divine power, to do that which is above the ordinary course of nature. _And Aaron shall be thy prophe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses was fourscore years old_ Joseph, who was to be only a _servant_ to Pharaoh, was preferred at thirty years old; but Moses, who was to be a _god_ to Pharaoh, was not so dignified till he was eighty years old. It was fit he should long wait for such an honour, and be long in preparing for such a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod_ This Moses ordinarily held in his hand, and delivered to Aaron, upon occasion, for the execution of his commands. For this and some other miracles were to be done, not by Moses immediately, but by Aaron, partly, perhaps, to preclude or take off the suspicion that these... [ Continue Reading ]
_It became a serpent_ This was proper, not only to affect Pharaoh with wonder, but to strike a terror upon him. This first miracle, though it was not a plague, yet amounted to the threatening of a plague; if it made not Pharaoh feel, it made him fear; and this is God's method of dealing with sinners... [ Continue Reading ]
Moses had been originally instructed in the learning of the Egyptians, and was suspected to have improved in magical arts in his long retirement. The magicians are therefore sent for to vie with him. The two chief of them were Jannes and Jambres. Their rods became serpents, probably by the power of... [ Continue Reading ]
_They became serpents_ The authors of the _Universal History_ cast considerable light on this subject: “If it be asked,” say they, “why God suffered the magicians to act thus, by a power borrowed from the devil, in order to invalidate, if possible, those miracles which his servant wrought by his div... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he hardened Pharaoh's heart_ That is, permitted it to be hardened: or, as the very same Hebrew word is rendered in Exodus 7:22, _Pharaoh's heart was hardened._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Pharaoh's heart is hardened_ כבד לב, _is made heavy._ Neither my word nor works make any impression upon him. He is obdurate and obstinate, and what was designed for his conviction and humiliation only aggravates his guilt, and prepares him for a more signal destruction.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lo, he goeth out unto the water_ Of the river Nile: whither he went at that time, either for his recreation, or to pay his morning worship to that river, which, as Plutarch testifies, the Egyptians had in great veneration.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water_ “There are a few wells,” says Harmer, “in Egypt, but their waters are not drunk, being unpleasant and unwholesome. The water of the Nile is what they universally make use of in this country, which is looked upon to be extraordinarily wholesome, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon their streams, &c., both in vessels of wood and vessels of stone_ “To what purpose this minuteness?” says the last-mentioned author. “May not the meaning be that the water of the Nile should not only look red and nauseous, like blood, in the river, but in their vessels too, and that no method... [ Continue Reading ]
_The waters in the river were turned into blood_ This was a plague justly inflicted on the Egyptians; for the river of Egypt was their idol; they and their land had so much benefit by that creature, that they _served and worshipped_ it _more than their Creator._ In ancient times they annually even s... [ Continue Reading ]
_The magicians did so_ By God's permission; _with their enchantments_ It seems they performed real miracles, for the text says expressly they did the same as Moses, and probably to their own surprise, as well as that of others, not knowing that any such effect would follow upon their using enchantme... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Egyptians digged round about the river for water_ Josephus says, they lost their labour, and found only blood there: but if they found water, or water less bloody, it is not material to us, as it does not lessen Moses's miracle, it not being within the compass of his commission to prevent their... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seven days were fulfilled_ Before the plague was removed.... [ Continue Reading ]